The sunroof was open and the windows were cracked even though the air was chilly as we climbed the side of the mountain in the navy blue CRV. The trunk was packed to the brim with supplies for our short weekend in the mountains, and the three of us sat up in anticipation for our arrival. A chill weekend, just the three of us.
Over the speakers, the song “Why Does It Feel So Lonely” by Lisa LeBlanc played and offered an angsty beat to the trip as we traveled.
Back and forth the car swerved up the ridgeline of the mountains as we traveled. Our arrival time had gone from 8:30 p.m. to 10:40 p.m. because of a mishap with our navigation. After some old school map reading skills, we found a back road and got to see a part of the mountain range that most people miss. Up and down. Flowing with the music. Back and forth.
The music suddenly stopped and an eerie silence surrounded the space, which was replaced by the pressing sound of the wind.
Quickly, as though we might take a turn too fast and go off the side of the road without the beat of the music, we all worked to bring back the flow of the rhythm.
The phone had no service.
“I have a ton of songs downloaded,” Sabrina Clendenin said from the driver’s seat. I held on tighter to my seat as she looked in the rearview mirror and the car flirted closely with the white line on the road that marked the start of a long fall.
Her sister, Bre Clendenin, spoke up from the back. “Yeah, but I had so many songs queued up, now I have to start all over again… Well, I will once we get service again.”
We continued our drive in silence as Bre searched for the perfect song to get us back into the right “road-trip vibes” that was lost by the interruption of the dead zone. It’s the kind of stopping or feeling like you’ve been driving all day long, the kind of mood that you would leave everything behind just to chase a sunset in the distance.
Music has always been something that has broken the divide between people, brought cultures together and created a bridge among those who have been separated. It sets the mood for trips and moments and memories.
Picking the perfect road trip playlist is an art.
Putting together the right playlist requires time and patience. It takes skill to anticipate your co-road-trippers. You can’t assume that everyone will accept your same kind of music or that everyone will be comfortable with your music (sometimes you have to be careful about playing songs that have The Swears in them, ya know?).
The genre of music you choose and the specific songs that you add to the playlist set the mood and the pace for the entire trip. You don’t want to be the one who ruins the whole experience for everyone else.
There has to be cohesion, connection and a clear flow from one song to the next. If not, the following scene will take place: The sun is setting, and you and your companions are cruising with a dramatic performance of “Take Me Home, Country Road” by John Denver where everyone in the car comes together for a “West Virginia” on full volume with only a slight pitch issue. The song fades, you have your eyes closed, hand on your heart, then suddenly out of left field “Crank That” by Soulja Boy begins to beat over the speakers.
Don’t mess up the queue. Just don’t. No matter how prepared and perfect you thought your playlist was, as soon as you start your road trip you can’t help but start to think of more that would enhance the road tripping experience. When adding songs after the trip has begun, you must use extra care not to tap too hard on the song you only wanted to queue up. Otherwise, you might cut the dance party to “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees short and abruptly kill the mood by playing “Young Dumb & Broke” by Khalid.
Be ready to take requests because you know that there will be that person who feels like they know music better than you do. They will name song after song, and yes, you put that song in the queue so you don’t have to lie to them about it when they ask later, but feel out the car and know when to kindly add that song to the end of the queue and quietly remove it when the requester has forgotten about it. That way you don’t have to listen to “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake on repeat for the entire trip (a great song, but probably should only be played once while on the trip).
“I still have no service,” Bre said as the sun touched the tip of the mountain to our left. We continued to drive in silence. All around us the world began to prepare for the night. The sounds of the birds slowed their chorus. The rustling of the trees sounded quieter than they had before, and in the distance, a few stars started to peek out.
It was calming and electrifying all at the same time. The perfect playlist may not exist, and things can always go wrong, but sometimes the perfect playlist is the silence between the music.
I sighed and sank lower into my seat. “I wish we could put this song on our playlist.”
While I don’t claim that any of these playlists are perfect, here are a few to get you started.
